What can we say? Things like this happen, and all you can do is remember the names involved and stay far away from their "work" until they disappear. We certainly will. Hopefully nobody bricked any phones toying with this one. [@clockworkmod]

Samsung releases Sprint Epic 4G EC05 source code

Sprint has announced the latest Froyo update for the Sprint Epic 4G will begin rolling out today, and Samsung follows through with some source code. Nothing here for the average Joe, but your independent developers will be all over this and true custom Froyo ROMs for the Epic will show up and make all your geeky dreams come true. Look in the Epic 4G hacking forums to keep up to date on all of them.

If you're one of those developers, want to become one, or are just curious hit the source link and search "EC05" for the download. Now the wait for Gingerbread begins. [Samsung Open Source Release Center via @Paul627G]

How to turn off LTE on the HTC ThunderBolt [from the forums]

Many of us have been frustrated, to say the least, that there's no toggle switch to turn off the LTE radio in the HTC ThunderBolt like there is in, say, the Sprint EVO 4G or Epic 4G. You could open up the battery cover and pull the 4G SIM card, but that's ... what's the word ... work.

No matter. User cdunn05 over at the ThunderBolt Forums worked up the instructions to manually turn the LTE radio off while still leaving the 3G radio on using the following steps. It looks scarier than it is, and the best part is that it survives a reset. We've got full instructions in the ThunderBolt forums. [How to turn off ThunderBolt LTE] Thanks, cdunn05!

Future Shop now taking pre-orders for the Motorola Xoom in Canada

Future Shop wasted no time after Motorola's official press release announcing the Motorola XOOM launch in Canada, setting up a pre-order page. Right now, if you head on over the Future Shop website the Motorola XOOM is placed front and center. Listed at $599.99 with an expected ship date of April 8, Motorola's timing for a Canadian release appears to be a planned out distraction for those waiting for either an iPad 2 that launches on March 25 and the BlackBerry PlayBook that should be getting a release date any day now. Wanna pre-order some Honeycomb goodness? Hit the source link for more details. [Future Shop]

We've gone hands-on with it, it's been spotted in the wild and its even crossed paths with the FCC but despite all of that, the closest anyone has got to an actual recent date is April. New info, as seen above from Costco pegs the device as going up for pre-order on March 24 with a tentative launch date of April 7.

Although the Samsung 4G Droid Stealth may not be a top priority for everyone to pick up, the fact we'll have another 4G LTE device to choose from is a pretty awesome. If nothing else, we can compare the battery life of it to that of the HTC Thunderbolt. [Thanks, anon for the tip!]

Earlier today the Sprint Nexus S 4G became official, and not long after that Best Buy announced that it'll have retail exclusivity on the device, and that the presale will begin today. This means that other than a Sprint store, Best Buy will be the only place you'll be able to try and purchase a Nexus S 4G. As we all know, Best Buy has had many retail exclusive releases lately, one of which was the T-Mobile version of the Nexus S, which they were very excited about.

“The exclusive launch of Nexus S from Google was a landmark for us and it continues to be one of our best-selling devices,” said Scott Anderson,head of merchandising for Best Buy Mobile. “Bringing Nexus S 4G to our stores is one more way we’re making it as easy as possible for people to find the phone that’s right for them.”

The Best Buy presale is a $50 fee, that is applied to your purchase at the time it is made, and can be done at any Best Buy retail location, or any Best Buy Mobile stand-alone store. [Best Buy] More in the Nexus S 4G forums

The Motorola Xoom (Wi-Fi) is coming to Canada this April

Motorola has announced that the Honeycomb based tablet, the Motorola Xoom, is headed north to Canada this April. Unfortunately, Motorola is currently only making the Wi-Fi version available to Canadians. Although, the press release does state 3G is coming mid-year. So for those of you waiting for a 3G Xoom, hang tight! The Xoom hitting Canada in April is the same exact one we've come to know and love here in the US -- nothing new. Press release after the break, folks.

AT&T announces the LG Thrill

AT&T has announced the LG Thrill 4G -- their branded version of the LG Optimus 3D (check out our hands-on). They are marketing the Thrill as the first U.S. smartphone with a glasses free 3D display -- a 4.3-inch stereoscopic LCD. Toss in the OMAP 4 dual core, dual channel 1GHz CPU, dual channel RAM and 8 GB of on-board storage memory and you have what many have been looking for. Pricing and availability weren't announced, but we expect to see it sometime in the second quarter of this year. The full press release is after the break. [PRNewswire]

AT&T targets T-Mobile's current 3G spectrum for expanded LTE capacity

AT&T has gotten hammered over the years (well, really just since the iPhone 3G came out ...) due to a congested network. As such, it should be no surprise that AT&T can barely contain its excitement at getting its hands on T-Mobile USA's significant spectrum holdings -- especially their 1700 MHz "AWS" bands, which currently hold the carrier's 3G signal. The slide you see above (from an early morning press conference) confirms that AT&T wants to use it in order to bolster their available spectrum for the upcoming LTE rollout.

They specifically mention that HSPA+ will continue to be supported on both networks in addition to LTE. As both carriers have been marketing their HSPA+ networks as "4G" to compete with Sprint and Verizon, one would wonder what they would call LTE to differentiate it. 5G, maybe? [AT&T]

Sprint Epic 4G, Galaxy Tablet updates hit this week, bring Sprint ID

If you are a Samsung Epic 4G or Samsung Galaxy Tablet owner on Sprint, be on the lookout for an OTA update that is set to roll out this week. For the Epic 4G this should be a revised update of the one that was pulled previously, which will bring the device to Android 2.2 Froyo. For the Galaxy Tab, you're getting Sprint ID. And that's nice, but we'd much rather hear about any possible Honeycomb (or at least Gingerbread) update for this rapidly aging tablet.

Sprint says the rollout will be completed by March 24. So if you own these devices, be sure to be on the look out for the updates. Full details available after the break.

Google Voice integration goes deep with Sprint

Google has announced that it will be integrating Google Voice with Sprint devices to give users a nearly native experience from their Google Voice number. The Android GV experience already is as good as it gets, and it's about to get better. The long and the short of it is that your Sprint number will become your Google Voice number, without any messy porting. Here are the deets, straight from the Google Voice blog:

First, Sprint customers will be able to use their existing Sprint mobile number as their Google Voice number and have it ring multiple other phones simultaneously. So now, calls to your Sprint mobile number can easily be answered from your office or your home phone, or even your computer through Gmail. Calls from Gmail and text messages sent from google.com/voice will also display your Sprint number. This basically gives Sprint customers all the benefits of Google Voice without the need to change or port their number.

Alternatively, Google Voice users can choose to replace their Sprint number with their Google Voice number when placing calls or sending text messages from their Sprint handset. This feature works on all Sprint phones and gives Sprint users all the benefits of Google Voice without the need for an app.

While unfortunately this is not currently available right now, it will be coming "soon" to all Sprint users. If you are a Sprint user, be sure to drop your email at this link to sign up for the service. [Google Voice Blog]

Sprint Nexus S 4G available this spring for $199 on contract

Behold, the Sprint Nexus S 4G! It's a Nexus S, erm, with 4G! True to the rumors, Sprint's finally gotten itself a Google developer phone. It's the same Nexus S you know on T-Mobile, only it's on Sprint, and it has Wimax data.

That's right, same 4-inch Super AMOLED touchscreen. Same 1GHz processor. Same 16GB of memory. Same NFC capability. Same 5MP rear camera and VGA front camera. Same lack of carrier bloatware (we presume). Plus you get all the usual hotspot bells and whistles, which is nice, though we're checking with Sprint to see if you have to have its tethering plan to do it, or if it'll just "work" like the other Nexus phones.

Nexus S 4G information uncovered via the Sprint website

We're not all that far off from CTIA kicking off and low and behold some more information has already snuck out about what Sprint may be announcing in their time there. We've seen plenty of rumors and speculation but this latest bit of info takes the cake. We're sure it'll be removed at some point soon but the above image is what turns up when you search for Nexus on Sprints very own website. Crazy right?

Although the device info is great the see, the thing that really piques our interest is the mention of Google Voice integration. We're not sure on the complete details behind it but that alone seems more newsworthy to us then just another 4G device announcement. No matter, the wait will soon be over and we'll be there at CTIA to bring you all the latest. [Engadget]

T-Mobile: Pay your bills, no Magenta iPhone

So now that T-Mobile's hopped in bed with AT&T -- maybe you've heard about it -- what's that mean for you T-Mobile customers in the near-term? The quick and easy answer is not much. There are a lot of hoops that have to be jumped through for this to even happen. So in the meantime, everyone sit tight and peep these bullet points:

Keep paying your bills. T-Mobile's pretty not dead yet, and you still need your phone to work. So write your checks to Magenta just like normal.

Your current T-Mobile phone won't yet work on AT&T 3G. And AT&T phones won't work on T-Mobile 3G. The laws of physics can't be breached by this deal.

And that means neither T-Mobile nor AT&T are likely to shut down the 1700 MHz (AWS) band any time soon.

No, T-Mobile isn't getting the iPhone. And they're pretty clear about that, saying that in the interim, "T-Mobile USA remains an independent company. The acquisition is expected to be completed in approximately 12 months. We do not offer the iPhone."

And as you just read, this whole thing's going to take a year or so to be done. There also will be some major rebranding to be done, and likely Carly and that Snarky McSnarkington in those Apple ripoff/AT&T bitchslap commercials will be no more.

Don't believe us? Wanna hear more about how "the merger will ensure the deployment of a robust 4G LTE network to 95% of the U.S. population"? (Never mind that Verizon's very much beating AT&T-Mobile in the 4G game at the moment.) T-Mo's got a nice Q&A worked up in its forums. [T-Mobile Forums] Thanks to everybody who sent this in

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